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Art Schools for Cartoonists

By Carissa Lawrence

Art school can help you become a professional cartoonist.

If deciding to major in cartooning, most traditional colleges do not have programs specifically designed to meet your educational needs. However, there are a number of art schools across the country which offer campus-based or online classes that are perfect for aspiring cartoonists. Choosing a school that offers classes geared towards cartooning can prove to be an intelligent decision and one that better helps you reach your career goals.

Penn Foster Career School

Licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools, Penn Foster is an online career school that is both regionally and nationally accredited. Through distance learning, Penn Foster offers a cartooning training program designed to help its students learn skills like drawing facial features, two-dimensional designing and how to draw motion. This fundamental program is good for beginning artists and artists who may want to improve their skills while working.

Academy of Art University

The Academy of Art University located in San Francisco houses a high quality cartoon school. Classes available at the school aim to prepare its students for careers as comic book artists, children’s book artists, animation artists, and a number of other cartoon-related jobs. As an illustration major, students interested in cartooning are offered courses in areas such as graphic design, character drawing, and fantasy creature drawing. The Academy of Art University offers online and campus-based classes that can result in the earning of an Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, or Master of Fine Arts degree.

School of Visual Arts

Students can earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree after completing the program of study that the Illustrating and Cartooning Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City offers. As one of the first colleges to have a cartooning program, the School of Visual Arts prides itself on providing students with opportunities to learn the fundamentals of illustration, such as perspective and color theory, while also addressing the challenge of keeping the medium relevant in an advancing society. Cartooning classes can also be taken as part of the continuing education program at the school.

The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art

Located in Dover, New Jersey, the Kubert School is an accredited vocational school that offers a full-time program as well as evening, weekend, summer and online classes. The Kubert School involves an intense three-year program that focuses on teaching the methods and materials used in cartooning and graphic design while enhancing the artistic and creative abilities of its students. Students interested in attending this school must submit a portfolio and complete an interview after their application has been accepted. Upon completion of the program, Kubert School students possess the skills needed to find a job in the cartooning field.

About the Author

Based in Gainesville, Carissa Lawrence is an experienced teacher who has been writing education related articles since 2013. Lawrence holds a master's degree in early childhood education from the University of Florida.